Inside Out/Atul Kumar

Who is he?A theatre actor-director from Delhi, who now has his own production house in Mumbai called The Company Theatre.Atul's quest for...

Who is he?

A theatre actor-director from Delhi, who now has his own production house in Mumbai called The Company Theatre.

Atul8217;s quest for the roots of traditional Indian theatre took him to Kerala where he learnt Kathakali and Kalaripayattu. But that wasn8217;t enough. quot;Unfortunately, we don8217;t get adequate exposure to world theatre here. So I went and worked with the Sacramento Theatre Company in California.quot; And spent two years with a French theatre group called Compagnie Philippe Genti. quot;We actually spent an entire year rehearsing one play 8212; and worked without words and a script, using puppetry, music and lights to tell a story. We even had to make our own property and sets.quot;

What is his work like?

Atul has spent most part of the last 16 years acting and directing plays from the Theatre of the Absurd. quot;It happened by default, since my first play belonged to this genre. As most playwrights from this movement were French, I studied the language, read all scripts in the originaland even translated a few into Hindi.quot;

Examples, please.

He translated and directed The Chairs in Hindi as Kursiyan. He8217;s also done Moliere8217;s Gentleman Inspite of Himself, Flying Doctor, Signarelle and Tartuffe, Jean Genet8217;s Deathwatch, Pirandello8217;s Six Characters in Search of An Author and Sartre8217;s Flies. quot;As an actor and director, this form of theatre gives me space to use my imagination 8212; in both form and content. Realistic plays can be restrictive.quot; Yet, he wants to try something else, perhaps Shakespeare.

What is he doing now?

Acting in Rajat Kapoor8217;s production C8217; For Clowns 8212; quot;the best example of what I learnt from Philippequot;. It8217;s about a day in the life of a circus through the eyes of five clowns. quot;We 8212; my co-actors and Rajat 8212; have written it ourselves and it hinges on improvisation.quot; Soon, he hopes to revive The Chairs, a double-bill along with Naseeruddin and Ratna Pathak-Shah8217;s TheLesson.

His work on television and a couple of film assignments 8212; Govind Nihalani8217;s Takshak and Sanjay Bhansali8217;s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam 8212; keep the home fires burning and leave him enough time to pursue his first love.

His guru?

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quot;More than one 8212; Rajat, Philippe and my teachers in Kerala.quot;

His grouse?

quot;None. Earlier, it was the fact that there is no money in theatre. But I went abroad and found it8217;s the same story all over. That8217;s probably how civilisation has developed on the cultural front.quot;

8212; Deepa Deosthalee